"I hope that she would bring a medal for the country" - Karnam Malleswari is positive about Saikhom Mirabai Chanu's chances at Paris Olympics
The last edition of the Olympics greeted a billion Indians with the glorious news of Saikhom Mirabai Chanu's triumph on the first morning itself. Mirabai had secured silver - India's second medal ever in the sport of weightlifting. The first came 21 years back when Karnam Malleswari clinched bronze to immortalize herself as the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
As Mirabai gears up to compete at the Paris Olympics, India dreams of its first weightlifting gold on the biggest stage. Meanwhile, Sportskeeda caught up with Karnam Malleswari for an exclusive conversation about Mirabai's chances and the future of weightlifting in India.
"Absolutely." Malleswari responds promptly when asked if Mirabai could clinch gold this time. "Any player puts in years of hard work for (trying to win) the gold medal and to give their best performance. She too has worked really hard. She has also got good support from the Indian government. She has a back injury, so she has spent most of her time out of India for her treatment and she has worked really hard too. I hope that she would perform well and bring a medal for the country."
Mirabai has had a good Olympic cycle. She clinched gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, while also becoming the first woman to lift more than 200 kgs at the competition in the 49kg weight category. She then bagged a silver at the World Championships while struggling with a wrist injury. Though she had been out of action for a while due to her back injury, Mirabai says that she has recovered and is rearing to go.
At Paris, alongside the iron weights, Mirabai would be carrying the weight of a billion expectations on her shoulders. After all, much like the last edition, she is the only Indian weightlifter to have qualified for the Olympics 2024.
Karnam Malleswari feels that to have a bigger pool of international weightlifters, India needs to work at the grassroots level.
"From what I understand, I feel there is a lack of infrastructure and coaching at the grassroot level." she explains. "The players who work their way up to the national level and secure a podium finish at that level get the chance to be at the India camp. Once you reach the India camp, you get all the facilities you need. But before that, to reach the national level, an athlete has to struggle a lot even today."
Malleswari, who runs a weightlifting academy herself, feels there aren't too many institutes that provide aspiring weightlifters with the infrastructure and facilities that they need.
"Even today, there are very few weightlifting academies in India. The government centres are just two: one in Bengaluru, one in Patiala. Only those players who have reached the national level get a chance to train there. But at the grassroot level, the state or district level, you don’t get such quality training facilities." she adds.
"That is why I started my own academy. So, that anywhere in the country, if a kid dreams of making a career in weightlifting or performing for the country, they don’t have to think 'where do I go?'."
Malleswari feels that there is enough talent in the country and if given the right support and guidance, Indian weightlifters can do wonders on the world stage.
"All that the kids need is good coaching and infrastructure, and 100% their performance will improve." she proclaims.
"There is no dearth of talent in India" - Karnam Malleswari analyses India's future and China's dominance in weightlifting
Since the turn of the century, Olympic weightlifting has been dominated by China. In each of the last 6 editions of the quadrennial Games, China has ended up winning more weightlifting medals than any other nation. In fact, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, China won 8 medals. No other team won even 3.
In a recent interaction with All India Radio (Akashvani), Karnam Malleswari tried to elucidate the reason behind China's success, while comparing it to the current state of weightlifting in India.
"China’s model is completely different." Malleswari explains. If India has one Karnam Malleswari and one Mirabai, then they have 10-15 girls in each category. That too, all of them of almost the same level in terms of performance."
She further adds, "In our country, be it Asian Games, be it World Championship, be it any competition, the same player is being sent. That is because we don’t have a second option. That is not a problem that China faces. They have many options. Asian Games - you find a different athlete. World Championship - you find a different athlete. Olympic Games - Who would show up? We don’t know till the last moment. So, they have a complete chain in each category."
Though being the patriot she is, Malleswari believes that there is no paucity of talent in our country and that the same can be achieved by India too.
"We are trying to adopt the same. If we get there, then I certainly hope that even we can dominate. There is no dearth of talent in India. If we work hard on the girls in junior level itself, then we can do really well in the future."